Press release comes with Tk 1000 at NBR event

Bangladesh Customs officials have apparently attempted to pay journalists covering an International Customs Day event after a long lecture on integrity and righteousness.

The situation that embarrassed both the reporters and customs officials occurred during the programme organised by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in Dhaka's Agargaon on Monday.

The 'payment process', however, stopped immediately after the journalists refused to take the envelopes each containing Tk 1,000 and a press release.

The programme was attended by Finance Minster AMA Muhith, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, the prime minister's Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman, among others, and presided over by NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman.

Midway through the event, during the commerce minister's speech, a young customs officer joined the journalists at the media corner.

After sometime, he started handing the envelopes to the reporters.

A senior reporter with an English daily first found that Tk 1,000 along with a press release of the event was inside the envelope.

All of the reporters who got the envelopes returned them right away.

When asked why he was distributing money, the customs officer only said 'he was assigned to do so’.

He, however, stopped handing out the envelopes when the reporters started returning them.

Later, a uniformed customs official handed out only the media release among the mediapersons.

Reached for comment, International Customs Day celebration committee convenor and NBR member Khandker Md Aminur Rahman told bdnews24.com that he knew nothing about the matter.

But he claimed “some of the reporters sometimes expect stuff like that (money) at such events”. "Maybe that's why it was done."

"See, seven or eight others asked me only two minutes ago - 'what happened sir? You didn't give us anything'. Now what do I do, you (journalists) tell me."

Asked whether giving out money at a government programme was right, Rahman replied: "I believe that this was plain wrong."

Asked where the money came from, he said, "If the money was allocated it could have been from any club fund."